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Mighty Goldman Heeds Pesky Proxy Fights

By

Liz Rappaport And

Liz Moyer

Updated April 12, 2012 8:12 p.m. ET

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., long considered Wall Street's mightiest firm, has been skirmishing with an unlikely group of adversaries: small but vocal shareholders eager to use the company as a bully pulpit.

Pressed by unions, religious institutions and other investors on company policies on issues from tax secrecy and corporate governance to executive compensation and political lobbying, the New York securities firm increasingly has been engaging these critics—and negotiating compromises that address some of their concerns.